Talia Hale
Talia Hale was the former Alpha of the Hale Pack and is the sister of Peter Hale, the aunt of Malia Tate, and the mother of Laura Hale, Derek Hale, and Cora Hale. As a powerful Alpha of the Hale bloodline who had the rare ability to fully shapeshift into a wolf, Talia was not only well-respected by the supernatural community, but she also acted as an adviser to other Alphas in the region, including Deucalion, Ennis, Kali, and Satomi Ito. Unfortunately, she was killed in the Hale House Fire started by Kate Argent and her cohorts six years prior to the start of the Teen Wolf series. Despite her untimely death before the series began, her presence continues to linger throughout Beacon Hills and its supernatural community even in the present day, both as the result of her actions during her life, which continue to affect her surviving family members (such as the fact that she used her powers to take Peter's memories of his daughter Malia, for example) and because the lessons she taught her brother and children live on through them and have been passed down to the packs with which they were involved. Talia's motto, "We're predators, but we don't have to be killers," is a statement that both the Hale Pack and the McCall Pack have used as an unofficial code of conduct even to this day. Talia is one of the most notable members of the well-known Hale Family werewolf bloodline and was the former Alpha of the Hale Pack, as well as a respective adviser to the supernatural community of Beacon Hills, California and the surrounding areas. Early Life Talia was a Werewolf born into the prestigious Hale bloodline at some point in the 20th century to unnamed parents, and was the older sister to fellow Werewolf Peter Hale. It is presumed that she is the eldest child, as she seems to have inherited her Alpha status at a relatively young age, which seems to have caused a great deal of jealousy and animosity toward her from her younger brother Peter, who wanted her status and power for himself. After gaining leadership of the Hale Pack, Talia began a close relationship with the pack's Druid Emissary, Alan Deaton, who has admitted that he loved Talia dearly, though it is unknown if she returned these romantic feelings for him. ( ) It is also unknown what became of her parents, but judging from flashbacks and references to Talia's early life, it appears that Peter was raised by Talia alongside her children, though he was quite a bit older than they were. Eventually, she met and presumably fell in love with the man who would eventually become the father of her children, and she gave birth to Laura Hale, Derek Hale, and Cora Hale in turn, each of whom became a Beta Werewolf themselves. In 1994, Peter had a tryst with a Werecoyote named Corinne, otherwise known as the assassin called the Desert Wolf, which resulted in the conception of a daughter. Talia then spent nine months acting as Corinne's doula, coaching her through her pregnancy and trying to convince her that childbirth was a miracle, and that the fact that a Werecoyote passes a portion of her supernatural power to her daughter was beautiful. However, at some point prior to Malia's birth in late November 1994, Talia seemed to fear that Corinne, who loathed the fact that her powers had been weakened by her child's inheritance, would try to kill her child to gain her power back. This led Talia to steal Malia away from Corinne before the newborn could even be named by her mother, instead putting her in the adoption system, where she would ultimately be taken in by humans Evelyn and Henry Tate, who raised her as their own child, though they seemed ignorant of the fact that Malia had inherited her biological mother's werecoyote nature. Talia then used her Alpha memory-manipulation ritual to take her brother Peter's memories of his affair with Corinne, including Malia's conception and birth, likely in an effort to ensure he wouldn't try to find her and allow Corinne to track her down easier. From then on, Corinne seemed to harbor a grudge against Talia for her interference in her and Malia's lives. ( ), ( ), ( ) When Laura started to come of age, Talia presumably began to train her to succeed her as Alpha of their pack in preparation for when she was unable to do so. ( ) She was eventually killed in late 2004 or early 2005 when Kate Argent and a crew of her cohorts conspired together to set the Hale House on fire while almost the entire family, composed of both Werewolves and humans, was gathered inside. ( ) However, she seemed to have predicted that something like this would eventually happen, because she left her Emissary, Alan Deaton, instructions to protect her children if anything should happen to her. ( ) At some point in Talia's life, she was brought into a emergency room in Wisconsin after being shot with an arrow. She told Dr. Conrad Fenris that she had been injured in a hunting accident and that the arrow was intended for a white tailed deer. He removed the arrow and the wound was completely healed not long after, leading the man to grow curious about the supernatural world and begin to learn more about shapeshifters. ("A Search for a Cure" webseries) Throughout Teen Wolf Personality Talia was a well-respected and accomplished Evolved Alpha who was known for being both tough and fair when it came to werewolf politics. From the little that was seen of her character, she appeared to be someone who did not agree with unnecessary violence but who believed that the werewolf community had every right to defend themselves against those who sought to harm them, such as the Hunters. She was also seen to be dedicated to werewolf traditions due to her being a descendant of such a well-known and centuries-old werewolf bloodline. She was a kind, compassionate, and caring woman when it came to her family, and it was obvious that she loved her children dearly, giving them support when needed while still letting them know that they were accountable for their actions. She was best known for being a widely-respected leader and adviser, making her someone who Alphas and other shapeshifters felt comfortable approaching for advice and counsel on whatever issues they were having. She appeared to be excellent at maintaining a balance between expecting the best from her pack and her family, while still providing comfort and support to them even if they made mistakes, as evidenced by her sympathetic reaction to learning that her son Derek had been forced to mercy-kill his girlfriend Paige after she rejected Ennis's bite. Physical Appearance Talia was a very beautiful woman, with long dark brown hair and eyes. While she was shown to be middle-aged at the time of her death, she was still in great physical shape, with a tall and fit body. Since she possessed the ability to shapeshift into a true wolf, she typically wore loose dresses that she could easily slip in and out of, giving her the ability to strip down to transform when necessary and quickly dress herself once she shifted back. Her style of dress gave her an appearance of a casual yet regal woman. Powers and Abilities Talia was an Evolved Alpha Werewolf, which made her much more powerful than most werewolves and superior to even regular Alphas. Since she was evolved, this gave her the rare ability to shapeshift into a real wolf. Werewolves with this ability are respected within the supernatural community, and this is what led Talia to be seen as an adviser and leader of the werewolf community. To access this ability, she had to find the balance between her human side and her wolf side; since her son Derek Hale was able to kill a Berserker with his bare hands after he became an Evolved Werewolf, it is implied that Talia was capable of such feats and even more, since Derek was a Beta and Talia was an Alpha. She also possessed the other common powers of a Werewolf, including superhuman strength, speed, agility/reflexes, durability, and senses, as well as accelerated healing, pain absorption, and shapeshifting her features into that of a werewolf. As an Alpha, Talia also had the ability to turn humans into Werewolves through the Bite (though sometimes the Bite or an especially deep scratch can turn a human into a different kind of shapeshifter, like a Kanima or a Werejaguar), and wounds she inflicted against those of lower status took much longer to heal than those sustained from Betas or Omegas. Additionally, she was extremely skilled at performing the memory-manipulation ritual (which is typically performed by Alphas due to the level of control and skill required, though Betas and Omegas can learn to do it as well); not only could she scan through the memories of a person by inserting her claws into the back of their neck, but she could also remove specific memories entirely, a feat that she managed to perform on numerous occasions. Weaknesses Talia had the same weaknesses as all other werewolves. She was incapable of crossing barriers created by rowan wood or Mountain Ash just like any other supernatural creature, and could be weakened or even killed by electricity depending on the voltage used on her. She was also weakened by Wolfsbane, which is expected from any werewolf, no matter how powerful they are; depending on the strain, potency, and method of exposure, wolfsbane could cause her physical weakness, hallucinations, or, in worst case scenarios, death. During the lunar ellipse, she lost her power like all other werecreatures, making her vulnerable during the 10-15 minute period where the moon is in the Earth's umbral shadow. Finally, she was susceptible to the effects of the full moon and extreme emotions, though, as a born Werewolf with many years of practice and experience in learning control, it was likely that she eventually was unaffected by these events except in the most dire circumstances. Etymology *'Talia': Talia is a feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "dew from God." It is also attributed to the word meaning "female lamb" in Hebrew, as defined by the Even-Shoshan dictionary-- the Hebrew word for male lamb, taleh, combined with the addition of the female suffix -''ya''. Talia also bears a phonological similarity to names found in other languages, such as the Greek name Thalia, which dates back to antiquity as the name of the Greek muse of comedy, whose meaning is "to bloom." *'Hale': Derived from a geographical locality, "at the hale," i.e. "hall" (either as a proprietor or servant at a residence there). It is also derived from the Old English healh, meaning "nook" or "hollow." In northern England, the name often has a specialized meaning, either denoting a piece of flat alluvial land by the side of a river, or as a patch of dry land in a fen. It is also sometimes a habitational name from any of the several places in England that shares the same name. Additionally, it could also have origins as a Middle English personal name derived from either of two Old English bynames, Haele ("hero"), or Haegel, which is akin to the Germanic Hagano meaning "hawthorn." The name Hale was first recorded as De Halys in 1130. It is said that the Hales were related to Saint Edmund, the King of East Anglia, which is how the family's coat of arms got their arrows pointing downward. Trivia * Not only Talia, but her two children, Laura and Derek all possessed the rare ability to turn into a full wolf, making them Evolved Werewolves. ** Talia's niece, Malia also possesses the ability to shape-shift into a full coyote, though it is unknown if this is due to her Hale heritage, her status as a werecoyote, or both. * Talia made Alan Deaton promise that he would look after her children in case anything happened to her, which was why Deaton kept his eye on Derek after he returned to Beacon Hills in 2011. * Talia was especially gifted in the use of the Werewolf memory-manipulation ritual, giving her the ability to scan the memories of others and even remove specific memories from their mind. She used the latter ability to take her brother Peter's memories of his affair with Corinne and the conception and birth of his daughter Malia Tate, and she also used it to cause Peter and Derek to forget the location of the Nemeton to prevent them from going back to the root cellar after several traumatic events occurred there. Gallery Talia_Hale_visionary_alpha_eyes.jpg Talia hale visionary.png Talia_hale_wolf_form_dream.png Talia_Hale_owlf.png Talia's_claws.jpg Wolf_form_talia_and_her_son.png Talia_and_young_derek.jpg Talia_Hale_&_Deuc.png Category:Deceased Characters Category:Minor Characters Category:Hale Family Category:Hale Fire Victims Category:Hale Pack Category:Female Characters Category:Supporting Characters Category:Alphas Category:Werewolves Category:Supernatural Creatures Category:Parents Category:Characters Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Season 3 Characters Category:Evolved Werewolves Category:Shapeshifters